the story of

The city of Frankfurt am Main is a metropolis that is often underestimated in Germany. From an international perspective, however, it is very different; superlatives can be strung seamlessly together: International banking and financial centre with the German stock exchange; headquarters of the European Central Bank; headquarters of all the major German banks and savings banks; transportation hub with Germany’s largest airport, most important central railway station and the most heavily frequented motorway intersection in Europe; advertising metropolis with the headquarters of the most important international agency networks; literary location; largest and most important international motor show and, and, and …

The development of another superlative was therefore obvious: today Frankfurt is the capital of telecommunications in Europe and, thanks to ancotel’s , it is home to the largest and most important telecommunication and data network node in continental Europe.

The development must, of course, be seen in historical terms. Right back in the century before last, the “central telephonic traffic institution” opened on 1st July 1881 in Frankfurt am Main. Yet again, the city of Frankfurt am Main was at the forefront of technical development in Germany. Together with a few other cities in Europe – including Berlin – Frankfurt had its telephone service.

At that time, there were 179 subscribers as end consumers in the city region of Frankfurt – today, ancotel has more than 400 international and national carriers representing several hundred million end consumers. The telecommunications industry – not yet called this at the time – developed very quickly and became very international. Harry Fuld made a decisive contribution in 1899 with his business concept: he founded the “Deutsche Privat-Telefon-Gesellschaft H. Fuld & Co.” (German private telephone company H. Fuld & Co.) and, more than 100 years ago, moved to Kleyerstraße in the Gallus district. As a producer of telephone systems, his company – later T & N Telefonbau und Normalzeit (telephone construction and normal time) – achieved international fame.

In the last 2 decades, the company has experienced some very changeable times: T & N became Telenorma, Bosch Telekom, Tenovis and finally Avaya. Also, as the economic importance of Frankfurt as a European trading and financial centre already played a dominant role in Europe, this platform continued to develop steadily.

After the 2nd World War, as a state institution, the German federal post office held the major share of the network development; the infrastructure in Frankfurt was already available as a result of Frankfurt’s function as a capital city for the Americans. Of note here are the construction of the telecommunications tower block in the early 50s, the operation of the largest telecom POP in Frankfurt’s Stiftstraße, and the construction of the highest telecommunications tower in the Federal Republic of Germany during last century in the early 70s. These are all important building blocks, which have always concentrated and continuously advanced the topic of telecommunication in the city of Frankfurt am Main as an infrastructure centre. Before deregulation, the federal post office had network-wide control over Germany with its mega POPs in Frankfurt.

In the mid 90s, with the deregulation of German federal telephony, the relatively young Deutsche Telekom AG acquired private competition and names such as Mannesmann, RSL COM, Arcor, Otelo and Interoute have been known since then and right up to the present day. With the digital D1 and D2 mobile phone network, serious competition was created for the landline network, which grew in previously unimagined and unconceivable directions.

In July 1999 ancotel GmbH was founded as a telecommunication and service company based in Frankfurt. At the start of 2002, the company established an international gateway between the western and eastern world – a telecommunication and data network node. The infrastructure was in place as the result of constant development over the previous 130 years and the largest carriers were on location in the Gallus district. The Top 20 of the early days included international names such as iBasis, KPN, Tata Communications (formerly VSNL / Teleglobe), Magyar Telekom, Telia Sonera, Telekom Austria and Tele Danmark.

Around the world, the name of ancotel/ (which has now become a recognised brand) occurs wherever interconnection to a European telecommunication and data network node is concerned. This is where meetings take place, whether from Western, Central or Eastern Europe, US carriers, or from the Central Asian countries or Japan.

There are numerous telehouses and data centres, not only in Frankfurt. What is decisive for a rapid and cost effective service is the ancotel operator model: the “meet me room concept” for physical and virtual interconnections, which was highly innovative right from the outset. From these initial beginnings, an extensive and unique world of products and services has now been established for everything associated with .

Alongside the ancotel headquarters in Frankfurt am Main, services are also provided at the ancotel subsidiaries in London and Hong Kong and by ancotel co-operation partner Telx at 60 Hudson Street, New York City. This product and service portfolio at ancotel’s carrier hotel in reinforced growth and the significance here on the Frankfurt site.

There is no other location in continental Europe that offers such a high concentration of carriers, providers and ISPs as ancotel . More than 400 international and national companies have their physical and/or virtual collocation here and can interconnect within the shortest time. This is unique not only across Europe but also in the world, as a result of the ancotel services. Here, the ancotel carrier neutrality provides the platform to further strengthen and develop this location.

With an extended product and service portfolio, services, the ancotel group has been setting further milestones in the collocation business since 2008. ancotel will not only track but also actively implement subjects such as the trend towards virtualisation – carrier outsourcing – in order to be able to contribute to the capacity use of the system and create flexible access to the capacities by means of corresponding interconnections. Innovations in conjunction with a consistent focus on service and a strong marketing position are also needed in the future, in order to further develop the location of Frankfurt as the most important telecommunication and data network node both with and through ancotel.

Take our word for it: in the next 10 years too, the ancotel group will actively shape and set milestones in the future of the collocation business. We look forward to sharing this journey into the next decade with you.